My prayer for you today is that in all things, big or small, you would turn to God and cast all of you’re anxieties, concerns, excitements, praises, everything, on him. He cares!
Monday, November 2, 2015
Cast your anxiety on him!
1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Today I’m keeping it simple and real. I’m actually writing this to myself and hopefully it’s something that someone else benefits from as well. Without going into a lot of detail, I’m dealing with a medical procedure today and being honest, I’m anxious. It’s nothing really but still, I’m anxious. I’m spending time this morning trying to give it to God because I know that he is in control and takes care of us.
What is it that you need to give to him? What is it that you find yourself anxious about that you need to turn over to him?
My prayer for you today is that in all things, big or small, you would turn to God and cast all of you’re anxieties, concerns, excitements, praises, everything, on him. He cares!
My prayer for you today is that in all things, big or small, you would turn to God and cast all of you’re anxieties, concerns, excitements, praises, everything, on him. He cares!
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Thurs Devo: Faithful and True
Would Jesus say you and I are faithful and true to Him?
He said that about the Pergamum church.
Revelation 2:12-13 12 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
These are the words of him who has the sharp,
double-edged sword. 13 I know where you live—where Satan
has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith
in me, not
even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your
city—where Satan lives.
Do we openly identify ourselves as a
child of God? What if we knew we would be killed if we said we were a
Christian? Antipas was supposedly burned for refusing to renounce his faith. Jesus
called him His faithful witness for living a consistent faithful life in the face
of satanic evil.
Similar situations happen today. The
gunman in Oregon reportedly asked his classmates if they were a Christian and
asked the Christians to stand up. Then he shot them and continued down the
line. Would you and I boldly claim to be Christians after seeing what happened
to the first victim?
Antipas
and the Christian victims in Oregon are safe in God’s arms now. Nothing will
ever harm them again. Jesus has eternal rewards for His faithful and true
followers! That's something we can cling to, no matter what happens! Alice
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Strength in Weakness
Three different times
I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power
works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so
that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in
the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ.
For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2
Corinthians 12:8-10
What is true strength?
We are taught to always be a symbol of strength to others. This is something I believe in, but as I’ve
grown, showing strength is so much more than just being strong. My success as a husband did not come from
always being wonderful to my wife. In my
younger years, I would complain too much.
There were times I felt she was not sensitive enough, and other times
where she did not do enough. However,
those were not her faults. They were
mine. I was the one who did not love her
and appreciate her enough. I expected
her to fix our failings in the relationship rather than look at the mirror and
deal with my own. In accepting my own
weakness as a husband, it allowed God to be the strength of our marriage. It made me better to her and more
accepting. It gave me not only
forgiveness for my flaws but also inspiration to do better. To be better.
The most amazing thing about it is my story, while unique, led me to the
same place other Christians found themselves; saved and loved by Jesus Christ.
God shows His greatest strength through our greatest
weaknesses. We often feel that we must
show our strength to others so as to lead them to a better place. While it is true that we are to live our
lives as examples of Christ, it is important that we also share where we are
indeed flawed. The vision Paul shared in
2nd Corinthians spoke to this very point. What brings others to God is not how perfect
we may seem. What brings them is
realizing just how imperfect we are. Our
flaws are not so dissimilar from those who are lost souls. However, our difference is that we have been
born again through Christ, and He has shown us a different path. It is a path that we not only proudly follow
but also show to others. A man
struggling in his marriage and contemplating divorce is someone God may connect
with me where I can say, “Hey. I know
where you are, and I have been there!”
Then God’s light can be revealed to them.
God’s glory is best revealed when He is allowed to shine
above all. There is no better way for it
to be revealed than in our own story of weakness. Romans 8:26 says, “The Holy Spirit helps us
in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But
the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.” Even when our prayers may be weak, God
intercedes to ensure they are heard. So let
us focus not just on being the face of God’s strength. Show others the flawed image of yourself
because lost souls do not follow a God they don’t know. They follow someone who understands them and
can be used by God to help them see a righteous path. How can you reveal your weakness to show
God’s strength? My prayer is that we are
able to show true strength through own weakness. Amen.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Tues Devo: Real delegation
2 Timothy 1:12 “For this reason I also suffer these things,
but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am
convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that
day.” (NASB)
Hello,
Delegation – a fancy business word! Have you ever had
anything delegated to you, only to be asked about it every 5 minutes? Have you
ever delegated something to another person, but then told them how to do every
little step of the way? Neither is real delegation! Paul though, he delegated!
OK – a bit of a stretch from the true meaning of delegation, but go with me for
a moment here. Paul delegated his eternal destination/ticket to Jesus. Paul
left it all in His hands. He left it all so assuredly, that he didn’t worry
about the “price” he was paying here on earth. He fully trusted Jesus to not
just handle his eternity, but to handle the method of getting from where he was
at the moment until he entered eternity.
So – you delegated eternity to Jesus and the cross? How much
are really showing your trust and faith in that delegation?
Have a blessed day,
Monday, October 26, 2015
God-breathed
For those of us that write these devotions, I think we all sometimes find ourselves trying to figure out what to write about. We want the words that we share to have an impact on someone’s life, to touch someone that day. I certainly don’t expect that everything I write will have huge meaning to everyone that reads it, however hopefully it helps one person who is maybe dealing with that same topic. For me, that is why I write. That is why I try to share topics that are real to my life. Yet still, I find myself wishing that I was more profound.
May His word bless your day!
Friday, October 23, 2015
Beauty
3 Say to Tyre, situated at the gateway to the sea, merchant of peoples on many coasts, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘You say, Tyre,
“I am perfect in beauty.”
“I am perfect in beauty.”
...
35 All who live in the coastlands
are appalled at you;
their kings shudder with horror
and their faces are distorted with fear. Ezekiel 27
That's quite the turnaround. The city of Tyre thinks very highly of itself and God is going to humble them. This makes me think of the Twilight Zone episode The Eye of the Beholder, how you see yourself may not be how others see you.
We need to perform regular and accurate self assessments on ourselves. We need to look at how we see ourselves and also how others see us. My church is currently doing a Bible study through Romans 12. I recommend everyone read it. The chapter details what we need to be as Christians. If you read through this, can you honestly say you follow all of those points? Which ones can you agree to?
Now, read it again. Which of those points do you think your spouse would agree to? Your children? Your parents? Your friends? Your coworkers? God?
Get all in. Really examine yourself and get beyond the superficial. Are your inner desires to follow Christ?
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Thurs Devo: Fearless Life
How fearless are you and I? How fearless are you and I
when it comes to living for Christ?
Revelation 2:8-11 8 “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
These are the words of him who is the First and the
Last, who
died and came to life again. 9 I know your afflictions and your
poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are
Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I
tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution
for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will
give you life as your victor’s crown.
11 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the
churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second
death.
After reading about what the Smyrna church faced and
what Jesus said they would face in the future, how fearless do you think you
are now?
I wouldn’t like getting a letter telling me I was going
to face even more persecution and suffering. However, it would be encouraging,
knowing Jesus saw everything I already endured, knows what I’m about to face,
and guarantees my eternal future.
Jesus reminded Smyrna (and us) that He was already
victorious over earthly suffering and death. Therefore, He can promise life
after death to His faithful followers. We do not have to be hurt by the second
death, which is eternal separate from God in Hell.
How can you and I be prepared to maintain joy and
faithfulness through suffering? The more we know God, love Him and understand
what He’s done for us, the easier it will be to live fearlessly for Him!
Alice
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
The Humor of Our Dumb Questions
Late in the afternoon
the twelve disciples came to him and said, “Send the crowds away to the nearby
villages and farms, so they can find food and lodging for the night. There is
nothing to eat here in this remote place.”
But Jesus
said, “You feed them.”
“But we have only
five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Or are you expecting us to
go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?”
For there were about 5,000 men there.
Jesus replied, “Tell them to sit down in groups of about fifty each.” So the people all sat
down. Jesus
took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them.
Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the
disciples so they could distribute it to the people. They all ate as much as
they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of
leftovers! Luke 9:12-17
When I was young, I found myself asking a lot of dumb
questions. At times, it led to some
level of embarrassment, but other times, it made a difference in someone’s
life. Once before my 10th
birthday, I asked my mom a simple dumb question, “Why do you smoke? Isn’t that bad for you?” My mother would soon thereafter stop smoking
altogether, and I have not seen her smoke over the past forty years. My wife and I were arguing with each other in
the very young days of our marriage. It
got to be so loud once that our son came in crying asking why we were yelling
at each other. I promised to never yell
at her mother like that, and have not since to this day. Sometimes, a simple dumb question can lead to
powerful change.
God will sometimes wait for us to ask him the question so
that He can show us something powerful and amazing. I have heard many times the story of Jesus
feeding the five thousand people with the loaves of bread and two fish. However, I realized reading it today how the
amazing feat did not occur until the disciples had ‘asked a dumb
question.’ I laughed because you can hear
the incredulous doubt in the disciples’ voices as they said, “Or are you
expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?” It’s like when I ‘brilliantly’ ask my wife
after work looking at the counter and seeing nothing thawed out for dinner, “So
what are we going to eat for dinner, honey?”
Of course, I do not notice dinner is already on the stove! Ok, back to the story! So they asked Jesus this question. These were not the Pharisees who have been
looking to trip up Jesus since He started preaching the Good News gospel or the
Gentiles who had no idea who Jesus was.
These were the disciples who were as close to Jesus as they come, and
they had seen Him do all these miraculous things. Yet, they ask the dumb question anyway! So Jesus instructed them, and it said, “He kept giving the bread and fish
to the disciples.” It was as if Jesus was
looking at them with a confident all-knowing smile saying, “Now watch
this!” He of course fed the crowd not
only until they were full but also where there was “twelve baskets of leftovers!”
God is waiting for us to reach out to Him and ask what it is
we need from Him because He is the great provider! How often do we look at our situation going
to God saying, “I can’t do this?” We
need to stop looking at what we cannot do and focus on what God can do because
frankly that is what He expects from us; total dependency! Jesus said, “For the
Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.”
(Matthew 19:14b) Jesus said this because
He understood children are dependent on their fathers just as we should be on
our Heavenly Father. What is it that you
need to ask of God today? What seemingly
audacious dream or problem can you take to God?
My prayer is that we can all laugh at our big situations knowing God is
the answer to our ‘dumb question.’ Amen.
Monday, October 19, 2015
Tues Deov: The happy kind of sorrow...
2 Corinthians 7:8-10 “For though I caused you sorrow by
my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that
letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while— I now rejoice, not that
you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance;
for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you
might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is
according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to
salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.” (NASB)
Hello,
As I was preparing to write this, I was going to use sadness
and sorrow interchangeably. (notice sorrow appearing 7 times in these verses
alone) But I looked it up, and sorrow is just plain deeper than sadness. You
can be superficially sad –but there is no such thing with sorrow, it has roots
that go deep. What struck me though was the different possibilities that come
from sorrow – repentance or death. You see the depth of the sorrow is reflective
of why there is a result from sorrow. Superficial sadness doesn’t produce a
long term result. But there is a fork in the road with the sorrow – will you
see that something is grieving God, leading you into repentance? Or, will you
see the sorrow as a reason to keep looking to yourself (either try on your own
harder, or to give up) which doesn’t end up with the right result.
I guess my point for us today is that when the rough stuff
comes, don’t get caught in it –but what does that push you to do?
Have a blessed day,
Becoming a Man of God
Isaiah 1:18
Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as
snow.
This past week was a bit of a challenge with my son. He’s at that age where he says “No!” a
lot. He finds himself in time out for
disobeying. Last night we were reading
from his “Little Boys Bible Storybook for Mothers and Sons” book and the story
was so fitting. It was the story of Eve
getting Adam to take a bite of the apple.
While this is written for a young child, I think there is a lot that we
can take from it too, so I wanted to share it.
Becoming a Man of God
A man of God takes responsibility for his sin.
Adam and Eve were made in God’s image. But they didn’t have to always do what he
wanted them to do. They could choose to obey or not to obey. In this story, they made a bad choice – they sinned
– and God punished them. Sometimes the
only way we learn lessons is through punishment. That’s not much fun, is it? But we remember the lessons we learn when we’ve
been punished.
Everybody sins – even if we try hard not to we do. When was a time that you did something wrong?
Were you punished? How?
While this is written for young children, I think we can all
relate as we do all sin. Sin does come
with consequences and from those, we
should learn lessons, that hopefully teach us to not repeat that sin. I encourage you today to think over your past
“punishments” to see how you can move forward in life to live a life that is
more pleasing to God.
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